IN ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST

An Anthology of Gay Short Fiction

This collection embraces such a wide range of writing as to nearly undermine the presumed premise--that there exists something that can be intelligently called ``gay fiction.'' Indeed, in his introduction, Manguel (News From a Foreign Country Came, 1991, etc.) writes that ``the notion of `gay literature' is guilty on two counts: first, because it implies a narrow literary category based on the sexuality of either its authors or its characters; second, because it implies a narrow sexual category that has somehow found its definition in a literary form.'' So, in addition to James Baldwin, Edmund White, Christopher Isherwood, and other frequent denizens of gay-themed anthologies, the editors (Stephenson also edited Between Worlds, not reviewed) admit Sherwood Anderson, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Hemingway, and other writers not habitually invited into such collections but who have written about homosexuality. The result is expansive and refreshing.